Gender Quotas Database
Indonesia
South-Eastern Asia
Single / Lower House
Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat / House of Representatives
| Total seats | 575 |
| Total women | 126 |
| Percentage of women | 22% |
| Election year | 2019 |
| Electoral system | List PR |
| Quota type | Legislated Candidate Quotas |
| Election details | IDEA Voter Turnout - IPU Parline |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas | Electoral law |
The list of nominated candidates as mentioned in Article 243 shall consist of at least 30% (thirty percent) female candidates. (Article 245) (1) KPU verifies whether all the administrative documents required to register as a candidate of a DPR member has been submitted as well as the validity of the submitted documents. KPU also verifies whether the minimum women representation of at least 30% (thirty percent) has been fulfilled. (Article 248) (6) KPU, Provincial KPU, and Regency/City KPU shall announce each contesting political party’s percentage of women representation in national daily print news publication and electronic news channel. (Article 252) |
| Legal sanctions for non-compliance | Electoral law |
(1) In the case where some documents required to register as a candidate as mentioned in Article 248 is not yet fulfilled, the KPU, Provincial KPU, or Regency/City KPU shall reject the documents and return them to the nominating political party contesting in a legislative election.
|
| Rank order/placement rules | Electoral law |
(2) In the list of nominated candidates as mentioned in paragraph (1), there shall be a female candidate in every three names. (Article 246) |
| Is the provision of direct public funding to political parties related to gender equality among candidates? | No | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
| Are there provisions for other financial advantages to encourage gender equality in political parties? | Other | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
Quota at the Sub-National Level
| Quota type | Legislated Candidate Quotas |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas | Electoral law |
The list of nominated candidates as mentioned in Article 243 shall consist of at least 30% (thirty percent) female candidates. (Article 245) (2) Provincial KPU verifies whether all the administrative documents required to register as a candidate of a Provincial DPRD member has been submitted as well as the validity of the submitted documents. Provincial (6) KPU, Provincial KPU, and Regency/City KPU shall announce each contesting political party’s percentage of women representation in national daily print news publication and electronic news channel. (Article 252) |
| Legal sanctions for non-compliance | Electoral law |
(1) In the case where some documents required to register as a candidate as mentioned in Article 248 is not yet fulfilled, the KPU, Provincial KPU, or Regency/City KPU shall reject the documents and return them to the nominating political party contesting in a legislative election.
|
| Rank order/placement rules | Electoral law |
(2) In the list of nominated candidates as mentioned in paragraph (1), there shall be a female candidate in every three names. (Article 246) |
Voluntary Political Party Quotas*
| Party | Official Name | Details, Quota provisions |
|---|---|---|
| No data available. | ||
* Only political parties represented in parliament are included. When a country has legislated quotas in place, only political parties that have voluntary quotas that exceed the percentage/number of the national quota legislation are presented in this table.
Additional information
Previously, the electoral system was a closed list proportional representation system whereby parties presented closed lists, with one-third of the elected candidates being women. In December 2008, the Constitutional Court deemed Article 214 of the electoral law unconstitutional, leading to the adoption of the open list system.
"The 2019 elections were the first to see the number of women elected to Indonesia’s national parliament, the People’s Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR), break through the barrier of 20%, with 120 of the DPR’s 575 seats (20.9%) taken by women" (Aspinall, White, & Savirani, 2021).
Sources
Legal Sources:
- Constitution of Indonesia - Link
- General Election Law 7/2017 (amended through 7/2023) - Link
- Law on Political Parties 2/2008 (amended through 2/2011) - Link
Other Sources:
- Parliament of Indonesia - Link
- Electoral Commission - Link
- Inter-Parliamentary Union
- Supriadi, I., ‘A Decade of Democracy in Indonesia: The 2009 Legislative Election’, Report of International Election Observation Mission (Asian Network for Free Elections, [no date]);
- Sri Adhiati, A., ‘Women in Parliament: Quotas and Beyond’, Tapol, no. 4 (February 2009)
- Indonesian Parliament, 'This is Act Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections (2)' (August 2017)
- IFES, 'Elections in Indonesia: 2019 Concurrent Presidential and Legislative Elections | Asia-Pacific (April 2019)
Additional reading
- See the latest updates on Indonesia on iKNOW Politics
- Aspinall, E., White, S., & Savirani, A. 2021. Women's political representation in Indonesia: Who wins and how? 40(1). 3-27. doi:10.1177/1868103421989720
- Zein Br Siregar, W. 2007. 'Gaining Representation in Parliament: A Study of the Struggle of Indonesian Women to Increase their Numbers in the National, Provincial and Local Parliaments in the 2004 Elections.' PhD thesis, Australian National University.
- Bylesjö, C. & Seda, F. SSE. 2006. ’Indonesia: The struggle for gender quotas in the world’s largest Muslim country’, in Dahlerup, D. (ed.) Women, Quotas and Politics, London/New York: Routledge, pp. 259-265.
- Subiyantoro, E.B. 2004. ‘Keterwakilan Perempuan dalam Politik: Masih Menjadi Kabar Burung’, Jurnal Perempuan, 34: 71.
- Dahlerup, D. 2003. ‘Quota – A Jump to Equality’, in International IDEA The Implementation of Quotas: Asian Experiences, Quota Workshop Report Series no. 1, Stockholm: International IDEA, pp. 10–18.
- Mar’iyah, C. 2003. ‘The Political Representation of Women in Indonesia: How can it be achieved?’, in International IDEA The Implementation of Quotas: Asian Experiences, Quota Workshop Report Series no. 1, Stockholm: International IDEA, pp. 62–5.
- Indar Parawansa, K. 2002. ‘Obstacles to Women's Political Participation in Indonesia.’ International IDEA. Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers 2002. Indonesian edition. Stockholm.
- Mar'iyah, C. 2002. ‘The Political Representation of Women in Indonesia: How Can it be Achieved?’ Paper presented at workshop on The Implementation of Quotas: Asian Experiences. hosted by International IDEA: Jakarta, Indonesia.
- Parawansa, K.I. 2002. ‘Institution Building: An Effort to Improve Indonesian Women’s Role and Status’, in K. Robinsson and S. Nessell (eds) Women. Gender, Equality and Development, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p. 68.
- Robinson, K., & Bessel, S. 2002. Women in Indonesia, Gender, Equity & Development. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
- Seda, F. SSE. 2002. ‘Legislative Recruitment and Electoral Systems in Indonesia.’In International IDEA, Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers. Indonesian edition, Stockholm.
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